Just wanted to give a round of applause to my '97 ford f-150's stock motorcraft battery..

This thing just won't die!!!

This truck is about 6 years old and has 80,000 miles on it and it still starts up with no problem every time... For the past year and a half the little green indicator light has been out, so the thing is supposedly dead.

I've run the lights all night without the motor running, taken it out to run the boat for a day... and it still starts up no problem.

Anybody wanna take bets on how long this thing will last?

-Sal

 

My previous Co. truck (1997, F-150 S/C with 4.6L built in 5/1996) still has the orginal battery. Truck now has over 200,000 miles & still going strong!

 

my 85 F150 went like 9 or 10 years on the stock battery and thats really amazing considering that its not fuel injection, so in the cold weather it stall out all the time. Lots and lots of extra starts. 17 years old now and still the original starter (knock on wood)!!!
She's on her 3rd battery now. the 2nd one died about 5 years after the 1st was replaced. The one its got now is about 2 years old.

i wish i could say the same about my HD's battery though It died on me already when the truck was just barely 2 years old! Its most likely cuz then the truck only got driven on short trips and mostly at night, so the lights and radio were on, so the battery really didn't get enough of a chance to charge up cuz such few longer drives to give it a good charge. It was just low enough that she wouldn't start. When i got it running, the gauge was barely in the charge area. I'm thinking about getting an optima

my trusty ol' 85 to the rescue!




but damn was the HD a PITA to move over to the other side of the drive when the battery died. The truck was parked in the middle, so the old truck wouldn't fit next to it. had to push it back and forth about 3 times to get it over far enough to pull the blue truck next to it. foot wide tires and no power steering is a PITA. LoL!

 

Couldn't you have just taken the battery out of your 85 and set it on the ground in front of the new truck?

 

well yeah now that i think about it but that thing is pretty ghetto rigged in there. Would have been a PITA to try and get it out and ghetto rig it back in the truck again

 

I still have the stock motorcraft in my '97 F150, delivered in October of '96. 6+ years later and 155,000 miles and she still starts right up at -20! I'm leaving ti until it die or I sell the truck, which ever comes first! Too bad I can't ever find a replacement battery that will last longer than about three years Maybe I'll give an optima a shot the next time I need one...

 

If you have the kind of luck i have, now that you have bragged on the battery it will fail soon.

 

sounds like we have something in common

in another thread in the HD forum guys were talking about their foglights leaking condensation. i open my big mouth and say mine have been fine, and what do i see the next day while washing my truck? BOTH of my fogs that never leaked for over 2 years are now loaded with condensation LoL! it never ends.

 

After I posted, I thought the same thing!

She started just fine at 12 degrees this morning after sitting outside for a few days without running. No worries!

 

uh oh, now you really did it. You not only posted once, but TWICE that your battery has been great. you better carrry a set of jumper cables with ya, you might need them soon

 

I would like to thank ssanto for starting this thread.

I read this thread the other day and starting thinking my battery would last as long as everyone elses. This morning I go out to start my truck (Y2K, 40 k miles), and it won't start.

But, it may not be battery. I hadn't driven it for almost a week, so I could have a slow drain somewhere. And, of course, the warranty just ran out in November.

 

I saw this post earlier and figured this is a good place to post this.
I think I will finally have to replace my factory battery. My truck has a build date in the spring of 96 so almost 7 years for this battery.
I am not complaining, in fact can hardly beleave it with all the aftermarket lights, sterio, electric door locks, windows and sunroof that is on this truck. It still cranks but is getting slower and slower with this cold weather.

I guess it's off to WalMart...

 

I bought an Optima battery for my '65 Mustang and though it's twice the price, it's so nice to have. No more corrosion on the posts, no worry about battery acid leaking, it's smaller but has more power...need I go on? I will buy an Optima every time if it's for a car I plan to keep for more than 5 years.

 

Check out Odyssey Batteries if you would like something even better than an Optima. I've got a PC1200 in my Xterra and I can run my XD9000i, 400W worth of offroad lighting, and hight beams all at the same time. Of course I also have a mean green alternator to beef things up a bit too.

The cheapest place to get them is HERE if your intersted. The PC1700 will fit in the F150 without a problem.

Axle

 

Update- It was -15 degrees F this morning, and the truck started just fine. A little slower than usual, but what and who isn't going to complain a little after sitting outsode all night in those temps!